SOUTHEND - 4
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Thomson cancels Ibiza 2014
On the downside today, it would appear that Thomson/First Choice have cancelled their planned Ibiza route for next year. No longer bookable on their website and also Airport website has removed it. Palma de Mallorca is still available though.
I think there will be a statement about that soon.
I wonder if Thomson are concentrating on STN at the moment - although I doubt the statement will say that even if it is the case.
I wonder if Thomson are concentrating on STN at the moment - although I doubt the statement will say that even if it is the case.
Just doing a (somewhat theoretical) calculation...
5 aircraft x 156 seats x 3 outbounds x 2 directions x 364 days x 85% load factor = 1.45 million passengers
Yes, I know that in winter things go quiet and there's less flying. Yes I know that if an aircraft is going to Tenerife, it may struggle to do 3 round trips per day. Yes, I know that aircraft may do W trips to cover other routes. Yes, I know there are countless other reasons as to why this theoretical limit may never be reached.
But it's still an awful lot of potential (and dominant) capacity at Southend, especially compared to where the airport was a couple of years ago isn't it ?
When Easyjet had their first summer at Southend, I was cautious about the airport thinking that Easyjet's initial flooding the Southend market with very cheap fares for summer 2012 did not prove a reliable market existed. If Southend can make it to 1 million passengers in a 12 month period, it'll have my complete respect as a proper London airport...
5 aircraft x 156 seats x 3 outbounds x 2 directions x 364 days x 85% load factor = 1.45 million passengers
Yes, I know that in winter things go quiet and there's less flying. Yes I know that if an aircraft is going to Tenerife, it may struggle to do 3 round trips per day. Yes, I know that aircraft may do W trips to cover other routes. Yes, I know there are countless other reasons as to why this theoretical limit may never be reached.
But it's still an awful lot of potential (and dominant) capacity at Southend, especially compared to where the airport was a couple of years ago isn't it ?
When Easyjet had their first summer at Southend, I was cautious about the airport thinking that Easyjet's initial flooding the Southend market with very cheap fares for summer 2012 did not prove a reliable market existed. If Southend can make it to 1 million passengers in a 12 month period, it'll have my complete respect as a proper London airport...
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There are still only 4 early departures and 4 late arrivals during Winter 13 and Summer 14 so still appears to be a 4 aircraft base.
Also the Tenerife flight is only on sale until the 29th April which indicates a seasonal route. (The new Newcastle to Tenerife flight is also going to be seasonal).
In May 2014 all flights from SEN are operated by 4x 319's based on the seat maps.
The A320 may then be positioned into Southend to operate the Tenerife flights. This was done a few years ago when easyJet launched Edinburgh to Paphos on Wednesdays and Saturdays and was only an A319 base. The A320 was swapped on Wednesdays and Saturdays at LGW e.g:
Wednesday
EDI - LGW A319
LGW - EDI A320
EDI - PFO A320
PFO - EDI A320
Thursday
EDI - LGW A320
LGW - EDI A319
and was done again on Saturday and Sunday mornings. All cabin crew at easyJet are trained on both aircraft so swapping wasn't an issue.
Also the Tenerife flight is only on sale until the 29th April which indicates a seasonal route. (The new Newcastle to Tenerife flight is also going to be seasonal).
In May 2014 all flights from SEN are operated by 4x 319's based on the seat maps.
The A320 may then be positioned into Southend to operate the Tenerife flights. This was done a few years ago when easyJet launched Edinburgh to Paphos on Wednesdays and Saturdays and was only an A319 base. The A320 was swapped on Wednesdays and Saturdays at LGW e.g:
Wednesday
EDI - LGW A319
LGW - EDI A320
EDI - PFO A320
PFO - EDI A320
Thursday
EDI - LGW A320
LGW - EDI A319
and was done again on Saturday and Sunday mornings. All cabin crew at easyJet are trained on both aircraft so swapping wasn't an issue.
LTNman
That is a possibility but the fact that NCL-TFS also operates only from December to April might tend to discount that theory.
Their use of the A320 at SEN certainly ticks yet another box for its potential for additional EZY routes. The Summer 2014 (post mid-June) timetable will be interesting when it's published in mid-October(?).
That is a possibility but the fact that NCL-TFS also operates only from December to April might tend to discount that theory.
Their use of the A320 at SEN certainly ticks yet another box for its potential for additional EZY routes. The Summer 2014 (post mid-June) timetable will be interesting when it's published in mid-October(?).
fatmed
I'm not sure that it is actually either.
easydan319s thoughts may well represent what they plan, although I cannot at the moment see quite where the 391/320 changeover would take place. It will be interesting to see if any other A320 destinations are added when the Summer 2014 timetable is issued.
I'm not sure that it is actually either.
easydan319s thoughts may well represent what they plan, although I cannot at the moment see quite where the 391/320 changeover would take place. It will be interesting to see if any other A320 destinations are added when the Summer 2014 timetable is issued.
Last edited by Expressflight; 25th Sep 2013 at 09:01.
SEN - TFS
The schedule as currently published requires five aircraft on some of the days of the TFS flights. In December five aircraft are needed on Fridays though only four on Tuesdays. In April both Tuesdays and Fridays require five. That is the limit of my checking.
Regarding LTNman's point about summer operations on SEN-TFS my view is that they could not be planned without a payload restriction in order to take account of possible high ambient summer temperatures. Unfortunately one cannot be too specific because of the quality of data available to an outsider looking in. Whether an 0630 departure would enable a schedule to be mounted with an acceptable degree of commercial risk might be an interesting consideration.
Are there any current A320 flight crew on this thread who can answer this question: Are A320 Packs Off take offs allowed by current procedures and if so what is the potential gain in RTOW from a limiting runway ?
Regarding LTNman's point about summer operations on SEN-TFS my view is that they could not be planned without a payload restriction in order to take account of possible high ambient summer temperatures. Unfortunately one cannot be too specific because of the quality of data available to an outsider looking in. Whether an 0630 departure would enable a schedule to be mounted with an acceptable degree of commercial risk might be an interesting consideration.
Are there any current A320 flight crew on this thread who can answer this question: Are A320 Packs Off take offs allowed by current procedures and if so what is the potential gain in RTOW from a limiting runway ?
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Well done Southend!
Don't know if any of you guys seen this, but Stobarts efforts to focus on the traveller seem to be paying off. Aer Arann’s London hub voted best British airport in survey - Marketing - Marketing | Ireland's online business and management news service - Businessandleadership.com
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The A320 will be a 5th based aircraft operating the TFS only during the winter. It will then be used as a standby aircraft the rest of the week or used on sectors where some extra yield can be generated during the winter.
Tagron
I don't know how helpful this is with the figures being just my impression from the performance graphs on the Airbus website, but it looks to me as if RTOWs (or is it RTOM these days?) for the A320-200 at SEN could be as follows:
ISA conditions: RTOW 74.3 tonnes
ISA +15 conditions: RTOW 72.1 tonnes
How this translates to payload/range I don't know, plus any second segment climb restrictions on 24 might also come into play. Perhaps soemone out their with access to the relevant manuals can comment further.
cjags
If that's confirmed it's an interesting development.
I don't know how helpful this is with the figures being just my impression from the performance graphs on the Airbus website, but it looks to me as if RTOWs (or is it RTOM these days?) for the A320-200 at SEN could be as follows:
ISA conditions: RTOW 74.3 tonnes
ISA +15 conditions: RTOW 72.1 tonnes
How this translates to payload/range I don't know, plus any second segment climb restrictions on 24 might also come into play. Perhaps soemone out their with access to the relevant manuals can comment further.
cjags
If that's confirmed it's an interesting development.
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It will then be used as a standby aircraft the rest of the week or used on sectors where some extra yield can be generated during the winter.
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cjags is correct
The A320 will only be used for this TFS flight and will be a standby aircraft for the rest of the time. Whilst there are lots of aircraft sat around over the winter at various bases due to a more relaxed flying programme, it seems a good idea to ensure there is a standby in SEN as well as those in LTN and LGW and most of the other bases.
Those cold, foggy, dark and wintry days in SEN should cause a little less chaos this winter.
The A320 will only be used for this TFS flight and will be a standby aircraft for the rest of the time. Whilst there are lots of aircraft sat around over the winter at various bases due to a more relaxed flying programme, it seems a good idea to ensure there is a standby in SEN as well as those in LTN and LGW and most of the other bases.
Those cold, foggy, dark and wintry days in SEN should cause a little less chaos this winter.
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A CAT 1 airport is the issue. Seem to remember the posts last year that Southend doesn't get much fog until the fog came down and closed the place a few times.
I see that direct rail services to London will only run Monday to Friday over the next few weeks due to maintenance work closing part of the route.
I see that direct rail services to London will only run Monday to Friday over the next few weeks due to maintenance work closing part of the route.
Last edited by LTNman; 26th Sep 2013 at 05:39.
LTNman
As you correctly point out SEN having only CAT I ILS is a disadvantage, but one that is shared by the likes of LCY, SOU and JER. It is a fact though that SEN's incidence of foggy conditions is historically less than that of STN and, particularly, LTN but it's going to happen from time to time.
Captain_Caveman
With all the good news surrounding SEN in the past few months you think I need "cheering up"? I simply found your comments amusing; sorry if you missed the intended humour.
As you correctly point out SEN having only CAT I ILS is a disadvantage, but one that is shared by the likes of LCY, SOU and JER. It is a fact though that SEN's incidence of foggy conditions is historically less than that of STN and, particularly, LTN but it's going to happen from time to time.
Captain_Caveman
With all the good news surrounding SEN in the past few months you think I need "cheering up"? I simply found your comments amusing; sorry if you missed the intended humour.